Host Japan tops VK and Sky Asian Champs

Host Japan tops VK and Sky Asian Champs

Host Japan tops VK and Sky Asian Champs

The International Skyrunning Federation represents the governing authority of skyrunning - defined as mountain running above 2,000m over extremely technical trails. Four disciplines define the sport which are not just based on distance, but vertical climb and technical difficulty: Sky, Ultra, Vertical and Extreme.

“Skyrunning” has been around for some time. Hundreds, even thousands of years ago mountains were negotiated out of necessity: war, religious persecution, hunting, smuggling, or just out of plain old curiosity. The concept of running up and down mountains for fun is much newer. Take for example the Ben Nevis Race which goes back to 1903, or the Pikes Peak Marathon which began as a bet in 1954 among smokers and non smokers.

In the mountains, speed means safety: the ability to move quickly in the face of an oncoming storm or to have to descend rapidly due to hypoxy can be decisive issues. Variable temperatures, terrain and altitude all require products that are technical, light, thermal, breathable and elastic that protect without restricting your movements and hence, speed. Skyrunning has helped to revolutionize this concept.

From sea to sky, skyrunning spans the great outdoors, across the world’s mountain ranges…and the imagination of thousands of participants and fans. It’s a sport born in the wild, where the logic was to reach the highest peak in the shortest time from a town or village. Today it represents the peak of outdoor running defined by altitude and technicality and counts some 200 races worldwide with with around 50,000 participants from 65 countries.

It was the turn of the Sky discipline at the 2017 Skyrunning European Championships held at the Gorbeia Suzien race in Spain’s Basque Country, Saturday, October 7. Spain, Romania and France took the individual medals with Spain taking the entire men’s podium while women’s podium clinched a gold for Romania, a silver for France and […]

For the first time, Japan hosted the Asian Skyrunning Championships for the Vertical and the Sky disciplines on September 9 and 10 where runners from Japan, South Korea, China and Philippines contested the medals, More than 300 Asian athletes gathered in the Zao Onsen mountain resort, a historic hot springs village, to celebrate the events […]

Europe is the birthplace of skyrunning but it’s come a long way, today, touching on five continents. For the first time, Japan will host the 2017 Skyrunning Asian Championships for the Vertical and Sky disciplines on September 9 and 10. More than 300 Asian skyrunners are gathering in the Zao Onsen mountain resort, a historic […]

America’s Far West hosted the American Skyrunning Championships between September 1-3 at the Run the Rut events in Big Sky, Montana, the biggest ski resort in the United States. Three disciplines and six medals were at stake across the Vertical Kilometer®, Sky and Ultra races. A strong international field of runners was present to gain […]